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Tips & Tricks Blog Posts

Tips & Tricks Blog Posts

In a previous post, we introduced the help tools included in the COMSOL Multiphysics® software. You can access additional resources on the COMSOL website, including the COMSOL Blog, Video Gallery, Application Gallery, Discussion Forum, Model Exchange, and Support Knowledge Base. In this blog post, we discuss these resources and point you to a video that shows how to use these tools for software and modeling guidance.

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When using COMSOL Multiphysics on a Floating Network License, it is possible to use the Client-Server mode of operation to access remote computing resources for solving large models, while still using the graphics card on a local machine to display graphics. This can have some significant advantages, so let’s look at Client-Server mode in more detail.

Categories

The COMSOL Optimization Module includes both gradient-based and gradient-free optimization techniques. Whereas the gradient-based optimization method can compute an exact analytic derivative of an objective function and any associated constraint functions, it does require these functions to be smooth and differentiable. In this blog post, we examine the use of the gradient-free optimizer, which can consider objective function and constraints that are not differentiable or smooth. The dimensions of a spinning wheel are optimized to reduce the mass while maintaining […]

Categories

There is sometimes a need to include data from other simulation packages into a COMSOL Multiphysics model. There are a variety of ways in which this can be done, but one of the easiest approaches is to read in the point cloud data via a spreadsheet format text file. In this blog post, we walk through the steps of reading in such data, and using it in a COMSOL model.

Categories

Oftentimes when you are working with devices with internal fluid flow, the imported CAD design represents the vessel material. The inside is plainly void. This may leave you clueless since it is inside where you want to create a volume mesh for the flow equations. How can you solve this meshing problem in COMSOL?

Categories

Version 4.3 was released just a few weeks ago, and it has already generated a lot of buzz. With three new products and many enhancements, there is a lot to sink your teeth into. Not the least of these enhancements are the “little things” — small usability improvements that can make life a lot easier (and modeling more efficient) for COMSOL users.

Categories

From an installation point of view, the main difference between a COMSOL CPU-Locked Single User (CPU) and Floating Network License (FNL) is how they are installed and managed. However, the FNL not only offers every single benefit of a CPU license, but also enables several additional features while greatly enhancing your workflow, allowing COMSOL Multiphysics to scale with your company’s growth.

Categories

Curvilinear coordinates are a coordinate system where the coordinate lines may be curved. The new user interface for automatic computation of curvilinear coordinates is a very practical addition to version 4.3b for those working with anisotropic materials in free-form CAD designs. If you have a generic bent shape and try to apply the usual coordinate systems like Cartesian, cylindrical, or spherical, you are out of luck. Curvilinear coordinates are needed to smoothly follow the design, which typically has no mathematical […]

Categories

For a transient simulation, imagine if you could simply insert a virtual sensor in a model at a certain location and then monitor the evolution of a field value over time while solving. In COMSOL Multiphysics you can do just that by using Probes. You define a probe in the Model Builder tree right under the Model Definitions node. Measuring the value at a point is not the only thing you can do with probes, but in this blog post […]

Categories

I give a lot of COMSOL workshops — about 20 so far this year. These are great events and they include hands-on minicourses, which allow me to connect with the audience. One topic that I often spend a few minutes on might surprise you: icons. The icons, especially those found at the nodes in the Model Builder, are packed with useful information. They’re easy to miss because they’re small, but knowing what they mean can be a big help.

Categories

As most skilled COMSOL users, I am sure you know that you are not limited to just selecting what is in our drop-down lists. Say that you have invented your own measure of structural stress. You want it to be equal to the quadratic mean of the Tresca and von Mises stresses. Go to Plot Parameters to find out what these predefined stresses are called (tresca_smsld and mises_smsld if you are modeling in 3D with the Structural Mechanics Module). Now […]

Categories

When using COMSOL Multiphysics on a Floating Network License, it is possible to use the Client-Server mode of operation to access remote computing resources for solving large models, while still using the graphics card on a local machine to display graphics. This can have some significant advantages, so let’s look at Client-Server mode in more detail.

Categories

From an installation point of view, the main difference between a COMSOL CPU-Locked Single User (CPU) and Floating Network License (FNL) is how they are installed and managed. However, the FNL not only offers every single benefit of a CPU license, but also enables several additional features while greatly enhancing your workflow, allowing COMSOL Multiphysics to scale with your company’s growth.

Categories

The COMSOL Optimization Module includes both gradient-based and gradient-free optimization techniques. Whereas the gradient-based optimization method can compute an exact analytic derivative of an objective function and any associated constraint functions, it does require these functions to be smooth and differentiable. In this blog post, we examine the use of the gradient-free optimizer, which can consider objective function and constraints that are not differentiable or smooth. The dimensions of a spinning wheel are optimized to reduce the mass while maintaining […]

Categories

Curvilinear coordinates are a coordinate system where the coordinate lines may be curved. The new user interface for automatic computation of curvilinear coordinates is a very practical addition to version 4.3b for those working with anisotropic materials in free-form CAD designs. If you have a generic bent shape and try to apply the usual coordinate systems like Cartesian, cylindrical, or spherical, you are out of luck. Curvilinear coordinates are needed to smoothly follow the design, which typically has no mathematical […]

Categories

There is sometimes a need to include data from other simulation packages into a COMSOL Multiphysics model. There are a variety of ways in which this can be done, but one of the easiest approaches is to read in the point cloud data via a spreadsheet format text file. In this blog post, we walk through the steps of reading in such data, and using it in a COMSOL model.

Categories

For a transient simulation, imagine if you could simply insert a virtual sensor in a model at a certain location and then monitor the evolution of a field value over time while solving. In COMSOL Multiphysics you can do just that by using Probes. You define a probe in the Model Builder tree right under the Model Definitions node. Measuring the value at a point is not the only thing you can do with probes, but in this blog post […]

Categories

Oftentimes when you are working with devices with internal fluid flow, the imported CAD design represents the vessel material. The inside is plainly void. This may leave you clueless since it is inside where you want to create a volume mesh for the flow equations. How can you solve this meshing problem in COMSOL?

Categories

I give a lot of COMSOL workshops — about 20 so far this year. These are great events and they include hands-on minicourses, which allow me to connect with the audience. One topic that I often spend a few minutes on might surprise you: icons. The icons, especially those found at the nodes in the Model Builder, are packed with useful information. They’re easy to miss because they’re small, but knowing what they mean can be a big help.

Categories

Version 4.3 was released just a few weeks ago, and it has already generated a lot of buzz. With three new products and many enhancements, there is a lot to sink your teeth into. Not the least of these enhancements are the “little things” — small usability improvements that can make life a lot easier (and modeling more efficient) for COMSOL users.

Categories

As most skilled COMSOL users, I am sure you know that you are not limited to just selecting what is in our drop-down lists. Say that you have invented your own measure of structural stress. You want it to be equal to the quadratic mean of the Tresca and von Mises stresses. Go to Plot Parameters to find out what these predefined stresses are called (tresca_smsld and mises_smsld if you are modeling in 3D with the Structural Mechanics Module). Now […]